


Inbetween Moments

by emmyphant



Series: Jolie and Yaz [2]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Childhood Memories, F/F, Family Fluff, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, I'll add more tags as we go, One Shot Collection, Sick Character, Whump, it's the Jolie and Yaz one-shots!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-17 18:13:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29104611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emmyphant/pseuds/emmyphant
Summary: It's the Jolie and Yaz one-shots! This isn't at all what I had planned to post for the first one-shot, but I was struggling a bit with what I was writing and this popped into my head so I said, oh well, let's post this instead! These will not be in any kind of chronological order and I'll have no posting schedule, I'll just share as I finish them! I will be taking prompts though, so if there's anything you want to see me write that you feel was missing from the main story, or just something you'd like to see this assortment of characters get up to, feel free to let me know either here, on twitter, tumblr or discord!In terms of the sequel, it is in the works but taking longer than I had imagined! I think posting two fics simultaneously for two months and writing two epilogues at once really drained me! But it is the works, and I'll start sharing that once I have a few chapters in the bank!All that being said: Enjoy!
Relationships: Thirteenth Doctor & Yasmin Khan, Thirteenth Doctor/Yasmin Khan
Series: Jolie and Yaz [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2135433
Comments: 26
Kudos: 31





	1. Henna with Umbreen

**Author's Note:**

> It's the Jolie and Yaz one-shots! This isn't at all what I had planned to post for the first one-shot, but I was struggling a bit with what I was writing and this popped into my head so I said, oh well, let's post this instead! These will not be in any kind of chronological order and I'll have no posting schedule, I'll just share as I finish them! I will be taking prompts though, so if there's anything you want to see me write that you feel was missing from the main story, or just something you'd like to see this assortment of characters get up to, feel free to let me know either here, on twitter, tumblr or discord!
> 
> In terms of the sequel, it is in the works but taking longer than I had imagined! I think posting two fics simultaneously for two months and writing two epilogues at once really drained me! But it is the works, and I'll start sharing that once I have a few chapters in the bank!
> 
> All that being said: Enjoy!

It is not until two weeks after their engagement that Yaz and Jolie find enough mutual spare time to pay a visit to Umbreen. Of course they had given her the news over the phone, but they had really wanted to get to the retirement community where she lives and tell her in person. And, Umbreen had insisted on seeing their rings, and congratulating Oreo on his part in the event. It amuses Yaz to no end how much her Nani has taken to Oreo since they got him, having never seen her around animals before, but it is like she has gained a grandchild and she loves seeing him almost as much as she loves seeing Yaz and Jolie.

So, puppy in tow, they walk up the path to Umbreen’s bungalow and let themselves in with the key in the flower pot as always, calling out greetings as they enter and take their shoes off. Yaz keeps a tight hold on Oreo’s collar until she knows where exactly her Nani is; she likes to hide a few treats for him to sniff out when he arrives, but he gets over excited and could knock her over far too easily.

“Nani? Can I let the hurricane loose?” She calls, passing her coat up to Jolie to hang on a hook while she crouches down and holds tight onto the bundle of fur.

“Yes, beti. I’m on the sofa!” She calls back, and with a smile, Yaz lets go of his collar before they walk through to greet Umbreen.

“Hello Umbreen, how are you?” Jolie greets, sitting down next to her grandmother-in-law and taking her hands in hers.

“I’m doing just fine, Jolie. And I trust you are doing well too?” She replies, and Jolie grins.

“Yep, we’re both doing well. Yaz is doing amazing with her masters too, she's crushing assignment after assignment," Jolie beams, and Yaz blushes as she leans down to kiss her Nani on the cheek before settling into the armchair by the window. A few seconds later, Oreo comes bounding back into the living room, licking his lips and clearly having found his hidden treats.

“He’s catching onto your favourite spots, Nani. You need to do better next time,” Yaz teases as Oreo puts his paws up on the edge of the sofa so Umbreen can fondle his ears and scratch his favourite spot under his chin. While Umbreen is enjoying her time with Oreo and Jolie, Yaz gets up to make a round of tea for everyone. She can hear Jolie and Umbreen laughing away in the background, and she smiles to herself as she makes the tea, loose leaf like her grandmother has always had. Carrying a tray with delicate china teacups into the living room, she sets it down on the side table and passes out the cups before settling back into the armchair. Oreo pads over and lies down over her feet like usual, and she hums in contentment as she sips her tea.

“So, tell me the whole story, then. How did you end up proposing at the same time?” Umbreen implores, gaze flicking between the two younger women in the room.

“It was a half-accident I think, wasn’t it Jo?” Yaz starts, and Jolie nods. She swallows her tea before she begins to speak.

“Yeah, it was. We had both agreed that we want to get married months ago, just after Isaac’s naming ceremony I think.”

“Yeah,” Yaz interjects when Jolie looks to her for confirmation.

“Yeah. But I don’t think either of us realised the other was planning on doing the official asking part. I think we both knew we wanted to propose, and I knew I wanted to incorporate the fluffball over there, but I don’t think either of us planned a specific time or place to actually ask,” Jolie explains with a grin, and Yaz nods.

“Yeah. But then we’d had Isaac the weekend before and it just made me realise how much I want to marry her, and have that life with her. So when Jolie suggested a walk up in the peaks the following weekend, I knew that would be the perfect time to ask her, properly,” Yaz explains, smiling shyly over the rim of her teacup while Jolie smiles at her affectionately.

“It was a spontaneous suggestion from me too, for the same reasons. And then it all just sort of fell into place,” she grins, reaching her hand out across the gap between sofa and armchair to take Yaz’s and squeeze it tightly. As ever, it sends warmth shooting up Yaz’s arm that settles in her chest and her tummy, making her ask herself once again just how she managed to get so lucky.

"Well, I'm very happy for you both," Umbreen concludes, patting Jolie’s knee in a particularly grandmotherly way. "Do you have any wedding plans, yet?" She asks, and Yaz internally shakes her head.

"No, not yet, Nani. We've been far too busy!"

"Well, when you do, let me know. I would like to help you out with the cost a little bit."

"Nani, no. You don't have to," Yaz tries to protest, but Umbreen is having none of it.

"I don't have to but I _want_ to," she insists. "Besides, I am an old woman, Yasmin. I have everything I need right here, I really have no use for excess money."

“We appreciate the offer very much, Umbreen. Thank you, really. We'll think about it,” Jolie interjects before taking another sip of her tea and crunching a biscuit from the plate on the coffee table. As usual, she sprays crumbs everywhere, but Umbreen barely has time to tut and pass her a tissue before Oreo is cleaning up for her.

“Yasmin, did you still want to practice some henna?” Umbreen asks, and Yaz’s eyes light up.

“Oh, yes please! Jo, still up for being my practice person?”She asks, winking at her fiancée.

The woman in question groans theatrically, tipping her head back. It prompts Oreo to put his paws up on her lap, mistaking it for distress, and Jolie has to reassure him that she is okay before she can provide a response.

"I forgot I agreed to this," she complains, and Yaz tilts her head as she looks at her.

"You know you don't have to, if you're having a fizzy day," Yaz reassures, but Jolie shakes her head.

"Nah, it's fine. Maybe I can watch a documentary on my phone to keep me occupied?" She muses out loud, and Yaz nods. She knows that her Nani will not mind, and she will probably enjoy the documentary herself depending on what Jolie chooses.

"Yasmin, can I ask what exactly you mean by a 'fizzy day'? Is it some sort of youthful slang for alcohol? Because I know neither of you drink and I don't think it's a good idea for you to start," she reprimands, and Yaz and Jolie cannot help but burst into laughter.

"No, Umbreen. Not quite. Yaz and I have a bit of a system going for how to categorise what kind of day we're both having with our mental health. For me, a fizzy day is when it feels like I've just got too much energy inside of me and I have to keep moving to stop it getting too much. Sometimes it actually hurts to sit still,” she explains, and Umbreen nods in understanding.

“Well, if it’s not going to hurt you to sit still, then let’s get on with it!” Umbreen decides, allowing Yaz to help her up from the sofa before they all make their way over to the dining table at the back of the room. Yaz diligently collects her Nani’s assortment of henna supplies while Jolie lets Oreo out into Umbreen’s small back garden to do his business, knowing that they will be sitting down for quite a while and won’t be particularly fast to get up. He is mostly out of his puppy house training phase, but a different environment is more likely to bring about an accident.

While Umbreen reminds Yaz how to properly mix the paste, Jolie feeds Oreo a couple of treats and locates a documentary of her choice to watch while Yaz potentially defaces her hands; in the end, she settles on something about blue whales and props her phone up against the vase of flowers in the middle of the table so she can watch from where she sits opposite Umbreen and Yaz.

“Okay Jolie, you will want to take your ring off … oh you’re not wearing one,” Umbreen instructs, trailing off when she notices the absence of the band around Jolie’s left ring finger.

“Oh! I have it on a necklace here, see. I’d never really worn a ring before and we found out I don’t always like the sensation, depending on the day. So I wear it as a necklace sometimes instead,” she explains, pulling the chain out from under her jumper and leaning across the table so she can show it to Umbreen, who inspects it scrupulously. Yaz holds her breath, strangely nervous.

“That’s beautiful, it suits you well,” she concludes, placing the end of the chain back down in Jolie’s open palm.

“Did you choose it yourself, Yasmin? Or did you have help?” Umbreen asks.

“A bit of both. Clara went with me at first to look, and I saw a few that I thought she would like. But then I consulted basically everyone; mum, Sonya, Ryan, even Ada and William,” Yaz explains as she sorts the supplies out.

“You asked Ada and William?” Jolie echoes back.

“Yeah, of course I did. They’ve known you longer than anyone else, I wanted their opinion too,” she explains, and Jolie reaches over to squeeze her hand in gratitude.

“Besides, she asked me, Yasmin,” Umbreen says, and Jolie grins from the other side of the table.

“Did you?”

“Yeah. I asked Umbreen, your parents, Sonya, Ryan and Clara. So, come to think of it, I think everyone knew we were both planning on proposing,” Jolie laughs brightly, and Yaz shakes her head.

“What surprises me more is that neither Sonya nor Clara let it slip, they’re both such gossips,” Umbreem adds, and the young couple burst into giggles.

“Good point, Nani! We’re going to have to ask them how they managed that!”

From there, Yaz and Umbreen set to work decorating Jolie’s right hand, while Jolie is happily occupied with her documentary and throwing a ball for Oreo with her free hand. Under Umbreen’s careful if slightly overbearing instruction, Yaz follows a particular pattern as she works, although she does change some of the more floral patterns for stars.

“There you go, love, all done,” she announces, forcing Jolie to tear her attention away from the documentary and look at her hand.

“Woah, Yaz! This is ace, way better than last time!” She blurts out, and Yaz makes a half-hearted sound of offence, hand flying to her chest.

“Hey!”

“No, no! I didn’t mean that, I just meant I can see _improvement,”_ Jolie corrects herself, and Yaz shakes her head fondly.

“I know, babe. Only teasing,” she grins, reaching over and squeezing Jolie’s undecorated hand.

“Seriously, this is so cool, though. Can I wipe off the extra yet?”

“No,” Umbreen scolds as Jolie reaches for a cloth. “You have to leave it on for at least thirty minutes, longer if you want the stain to last for longer. And it is a good design, you might want to keep it for longer. That is why we did it on your non-dominant hand, so you would be less likely to wipe it off accidentally.”

Jolie grumbles but puts the cloth back, resting her chin in the palm of her other hand while she looks down at the brown lines decorating her skin.

“It is pretty cool. I’ll see how long I last after 30 minutes then,” she concludes, and Yaz hums in agreement. 

“Good plan. Anything you want to do in the meantime?”

Jolie scrunches her nose up in thought, until her eyes light up.

“Can I try a tiny bit on you, Yaz?” She asks, looking between the two women across the table from her. Looking to Umbreen for confirmation, she nods as Yaz and so Yaz agrees.

“Okay, sure. Just don’t do anything too ridiculous, please,” Yaz concedes, and Jolie grins at her mischievously.

“When would I even be ridiculous?” She grins as she reaches for the small bag of paste that Umbreen holds out to her. “Can I have your thumb please?”

Yaz narrows her eyes suspiciously but complies, placing down her left hand and facing the pad of her thumb up. With a deep-set frown line between her eyebrows and her tongue poking out the corner of her mouth, Jolie applies a tiny amount of paste to the skin. Turning her thumb back towards her, Yaz laughs out loud when she sees the small smiley face drawn onto her skin, so typically Jolie that really, she should have expected.

“I was right, you are ridiculous.”

For the next two weeks, Yaz cannot help but the goofy grin that comes over her face every time she catches sight of her thumb.


	2. Recovery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another one-shot for you all! This is set directly after Jolie's surgery, aka Chapter 17. Jolie isn't having too much fun in this chapter, so there are some warnings;
> 
> \- vomiting  
> \- choking  
> \- discussion of hospitals/surgery  
> \- small mention of grief

“Take it easy, babe. Nice and slow.” Yaz walks inches away from where Jolie is slowly shuffling down the hallway from the lift to her front door on her crutches. A hand between her shoulder blades provides her with the knowledge that Yaz is right there for her, despite still being hazy from the anaesthetic and the strong pain medication.

Yaz fishes her key out of her pocket and presses it into her mum’s hand, who hurries ahead of them to unlock Jolie’s front door and hold it open. 

“You’re okay, I’ve got you,” Yaz whispers when the blonde falters and wobbles precariously. “Almost there.”

Jolie inches down the rest of the hallway and into her flat, Yaz’s hand never leaving her back, anchoring her to reality. Her head feels all floaty, and her leg heavy, and she’s sure that without it she would lose her balance completely. 

Supporting her under her arms, Yaz holds her steady while Najia takes the crutches and then Yaz gently lowers her onto the sofa, banking her up with cushions and adjusting her bandaged and braced leg into a neutral position for her with an extra couple of pillows underneath. They had turned the sofa to face another way last night, meaning that in theory Jolie has more room to get up and down off it, as well as being able to see into the kitchen while stuck there. Crouching down next to her, Yaz takes her hand and squeezes reassuringly while Najia busies herself in the kitchen making cups of tea for them all, and a snack of some plain crackers and grapes for Jolie to make an attempt at. She had felt nauseous the whole car ride home, although Yaz is not sure whether it was to do with the medication, the anxiety, or the fact that she had to ride sideways in the car thanks to the huge brace on her leg. Either way, she has barely eaten anything in the last twenty-four hours and needs to get something into her.

“Okay, babe?” Yaz murmurs, running her thumb over the back of her girlfriend's hand.

“M’head feels funny,” she murmurs, squeezing her eyes shut as her face goes a shade paler. 

“How does it feel funny?” She asks, tilting her head in concern.

“Feels like m’brain isn’t in there,” she admits, and Yaz breathes out a soft chuckle.

“Well I can assure you it is in there, but I think I know what you mean, can I try and help you with that?” Yaz asks, and after a very tiny nod from Jolie, she stands up and grabs an extra cushion, holding it between Jolie’s head and the sofa so she can rest against it comfortably.

“Better?” Yaz asks, tucking her hair behind her ear for her.

“Yeah, thank you,” she replies, but she shivers and so Yaz draws the throw from the back of the sofa and tucks it around her legs, careful not to get it caught in the brace. Just as she finishes, Najia appears with a cup of tea and a plate of food on a small tray that she had brought with her that morning.

“There you go, love. Make sure to go slowly, you don’t want to make yourself sick, alright?” She instructs gently, setting the tray down on Jolie’s lap and making sure it is balanced before letting go and going back to the kitchen to bring tea for her and Yaz too. Yaz perches herself by Jolie’s feet as usual while, for lack of a better place to sit, Najia occupies Jolie’s desk chair.

Jolie gives a timid smile to Najia before she begins to nibble cautiously at the corner of the cracker, but she barely makes it halfway through the rectangle before her face turns an unhealthy shade of whitish green and she looks up at Najia and Yaz, panicked. Both of them are thankfully quick off the mark, Najia springing into action to remove the tray from Jolie’s lap while Yaz skids into the kitchen and finds the first large container she can — turns out it’s the washing up bowl — and she just about manages to get it in place before Jolie is throwing up in earnest, her upper body convulsing as she heaves and coughs and gags over the bowl. Najia moves behind her to hold her hair out of the way and rub her back while Yaz grabs onto her hand and holds the bowl steady.

When her body is finally,  _ finally  _ done she sags completely with tears streaming down her face, shaking lightly and deathly pale. She pants with her head hung over the bowl, squeezing her eyes shut as though to stop the moisture leaking out.

“Shh, you’re alright,” Yaz soothes, taking over rubbing her back when her mum moves to remove the bowl and fetch a glass of water from the kitchen.

Jolie shakes her head slowly, scrunching her eyes shut harder.

"You still don't feel good?" Yaz asks to confirm, squeezing her hand again in reassurance.

"No, feel sick," Jolie murmurs, letting out a long breath through her nose as she shudders again.

"Alright…" Yaz replies. "Mum, can you bring us another bowl please?" She asks as she tucks the blanket more firmly around her girlfriend’s waist and legs before moving to squish onto the sofa next to her. She wraps her arms around her shaky form, drawing her close and letting her rest her head against her shoulder as she works to calm her breathing.

A few seconds later Najia reappears with a smaller bowl as well as a glass of water that she passes to Yaz rather than Jolie, the latter of whom has wrapped her arms around her middle and tucked them under the blanket.

“Try little sips of the water Jolie, rinse your mouth out. You’ll feel better for it,” Najia encourages, crouching down in concern. Jolie diligently takes the glass of water from Yaz with shaking hands, taking small sips that she swirls around inside her mouth before spitting it back out into the bowl to try and get some of the vile, acrid taste away. Once she is satisfied, she sips the rest of the glass of water and passes it to Najia before nuzzling her head into the crook of Yaz’s neck in uneasy contentment.

“I’m going to go and get a flannel to clean your face a bit, is that alright Jolie?” Najia asks, standing up to take the empty glass back to the sink. Jolie hums in affirmation, and Yaz gives her mum a grateful smile. She feels a little guilty taking advantage of her like this, but she knows that Najia wants to be, well, a mum, and so she lets her do her thing.

Najia soon reappears from the bathroom with a damp cloth and gently cups Jolie’s chin to lift it away from Yaz’s chest, wiping it around her mouth and nose before folding it and swiping smooth, soothing strokes of the soft material around Jolie’s face to cool her down a little. What neither of them were expecting, however, is for Jolie to start crying harder the longer Najia cleans her face for her until she lets go of her chin and Jolie’s head drops to Yaz’s chest, her hands fisting into the material of Yaz’s t-shirt.

“Hey, what’s the matter?” she murmurs as Jolie sobs against her skin, rocking her gently.

“I want my gran,” she hiccups through a sob, and Yaz’s heart clenches for her, because although she cannot understand that particular pain, she can imagine how hurt and alone Jolie must be feeling right now, despite having two people right next to her who care about her an awful lot.

“Well we can call…” Najia starts, but Yaz cuts her off with a shake of her head.

“Oh…” Najia breathes out, straightening up awkwardly. Of course she cannot blame her mum, she did not know, but her suggestion has only made Jolie cry harder and so Yaz curls her arm tighter around her while bringing the other one up to the side of her head to run her fingers through Jolie’s hair. 

Only when she has quite literally cried herself to sleep does Yaz let go, carefully maneuvering her to rest against the back of the sofa, adjusting the pillow at the side of her head and tucking the blanket back in. Pressing a kiss to her forehead as she gingerly gets up, Yaz smiles softly as Jolie sighs in her sleep before moving her way to where her mum is hovering awkwardly in the kitchen.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know,” Najia apologises immediately, but Yaz shakes her head as she starts to put away the dishes her mum has just washed.

“You couldn’t have, don’t worry about it. I think she was just already feeling vulnerable and washing her face for her tipped her over the edge,” Yaz concludes, leaning back against the counter under her mum’s scrutinising gaze.

“Does she talk about it a lot?” Najia asks, and Yaz shakes her head.

“Not really...she does sometimes, but it’ll be a sentence or two and then she’ll clam up again. I don’t really think she’s had much opportunity to talk about it since her gran passed away. I’m working on it with her though,” Yaz reassures, and Najia smiles proudly at her daughter, at what a wonderfully emotionally mature and caring young woman she has become.

“That’s good, she obviously trusts you an awful lot.”

Yaz offers up a timid smile before looking around the room, trying to figure out where on Earth to start with all the stuff she needs to do, ideally before Jolie wakes up again. She is far more out of it and unwell that Yaz had predicted she might be, and so she wants to be able to give her her full attention when she wakes up from her impromptu nap.

“Are you okay, Yaz?” Her mum checks, and Yaz shrugs her shoulders. 

“I’ve got a lot to do…” she murmurs, chewing her bottom lip.

“Do you want me to stay here tonight to help you out?” Najia offers, and Yaz frowns at her.

“It wouldn’t be a problem, I’ve already got an overnight bag in the car just in case. She’s clearly not well Yaz, and I know you’re not going to want to leave her on her own. You’ve both got exams coming up, let me take some of the strain off for you,” she offers, and Yaz considers. It sounds tempting, very tempting.

“Where will you sleep?”

“I’ll be fine on the sofa,” Najia reassures, a hand on Yaz’s shoulder.

“We’ll ask Jo when she wakes up, it’s really up to her,” Yaz concedes, and Najia nods in understanding.

“That’s okay. Now come here, because you look like you need a hug.”

With a content sigh, Yaz steps into her mum’s open arms, letting her hold her tightly and safely. There are worse places she could be.

* * *

It is a couple of hours later and early evening before Jolie wakes from her nap with a small cry, looking around in confusion. Yaz has taken the opportunity for a shower, and so it is Najia alone with her. She dithers for a moment before stepping into her mothering role.

“You’re alright, love. You’re at home, you fell asleep on the sofa,” she explains, crouching down next to her and squeezing her hand.

Jolie nods slowly, looking around to confirm she is where Najia says she is.

“Where’s Yaz?” She asks timidly, rubbing her eyes with the heel of her hand.

“She’s having a shower, she shouldn’t be too long,” Najia informs, and Jolie nods again. She is just about to ask Najia if she can fetch her a glass of water when the alarm on her phone goes off, and she jumps.

Najia passes it over for her to silence and as Jolie squints at it in confusion, glasses abandoned out of her reach on the coffee table, she realises there is a name for the alarm.

_ Remember to take the pain meds again x _

Jolie smiles as she silences it, realising Yaz must have set it for her earlier, and she appreciates the gesture. Her memory is even more all over the place than usual.

“Yaz must have set it, to remind me to take more of the pain meds,” she explains, a small smile on her face.

“She’s good like that … do you want me to get them for you?” Najia asks, already making to stand up.

“Please,” Jolie replies, gingerly shifting herself on the sofa slightly as she realises she’s starting to go numb. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean she cannot feel the dull, pulsing ache in her right leg and she breathes a sigh of relief when Najia reappears with a glass of water and the small bag. There is a piece of paper stuck to the outside covered in Yaz’s neat handwriting, describing in detail which medications she is supposed to take at which time over the course of the next few days. After reading it out to Najia and selecting the right ones, Jolie double checks the names before swallowing the tablets, trying not to gag at the slightly bitter taste it leaves in her mouth. She would really rather not throw up again.

Just as she is swallowing the last tablet, Yaz emerges from the bathroom, dressed in slouchy clothes and rubbing her hair with a towel. At looking up properly and seeing Jolie awake, a smile spreads across her face and she quickly nips into the bedroom to deposit the towel in the laundry basket before shaking her hair out as she pads over and squishes up on the sofa next to her girlfriend, half hanging off the edge but not particularly caring.

“Thanks for the alarm reminder,” Jolie smiles, resting her head on Yaz’s shoulder.

“No problem...it didn’t wake you up, did it?” She asks in a sudden panic, and Jolie giggles.

“No, I were already awake. Just about," she reassures.

"Good. Actually, mum and I wanted to ask you, is it okay if she stays here tonight? You’re not as well as we expected you to be and if mum is here it means I can focus on looking after you without having to think about housework stuff for a little bit. It's up to you, it's your flat. But I do think it might be a good idea," Yaz asks, and Jolie hums in thought.

“Where will you sleep, Najia?” She asks, sitting up slightly to look past Yaz.

“I’ll be fine on the sofa, love,” she reassures, but Jolie still does not seem sure.

“I don’t want to be a burden,” she whispers quietly, fiddling her fingers on her lap.

“You’re not being a burden at all, Jo,” Yaz says firmly, taking her hands in her own and squeezing them tightly to assure her of her statement. “You’re not well, and it’ll be a lot easier to look after you if there are two of us here. You can’t move your leg at all and until we get used to that, having two people will be a lot easier for you.”

Jolie chews her lip in thought, the crease between her brows growing deeper as she has a debate with herself. Yaz and Najia sit in silence as she thinks, knowing it will take her a moment to come up with a response.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay on the sofa?” She asks again, and Najia nods.

“Absolutely.”

“Well if you’re sure it’s no trouble…”

“Not at all, I’m happy to help out.”

“Okay then. Thank you, really,” Jolie concedes, and Najia smiles widely. Standing up, she takes Jolie’s laptop from the desk where it sits and passes it over. 

“Go on then, why don’t you girls pick something to watch while we eat dinner? I’ll sort out the soup and stuff, you just get comfy.”

* * *

Najia had gone to bed, well, the sofa, pleased that Yaz and Jolie had agreed to let her stay. She had been worried about both of them, Jolie being so unwell and Yaz being shouldered with the responsibility of caring for her, all in the middle of exam season, and Jolie’s final year at that. And so offering to stay the night and help them adjust had been the best she could offer.

Unfortunately, she wakes in the middle of the night to a strange noise and is confused until she hears her daughter’s frantic and panicked voice coming from the bedroom.

“Mum!” She yells, followed by a thumping sound. Najia hurriedly sits up and starts to rise from the sofa to go and see what is wrong.

“Mum! Jolie’s choking!” She cries again, and Najia is in the bedroom like a shot. In the dim light she can make out Jolie half-sitting up in bed, bright red in the face and coughing weaky while Yaz is slapping her back to try and relieve her. There is a small amount of vomit leaking out of her mouth, which explains the situation. Rounding the bed quickly, Najia unceremoniously pulls Jolie the rest of the way up before pushing her upper body forward and supporting her with one arm diagonally across her chest as she slaps her back, hard. She is glad she is properly first-aid trained; Yaz had made a valiant effort and although she knows she has been trained for work too, she’s never actually had to put those skills into practice and for it to be her girlfriend is a big shock.

After a few of Najia’s more accurate slaps, Jolie is spectacularly sick all over herself, the bedsheets, and Najia’s arm. Both Najia and Yaz breathe an audible sigh of relief when she finishes spluttering and takes huge gulps of air, tears streaming down her reddened face.

“You’re okay, Jo. You’re safe, it’s all done, it’s over,” Yaz whispers softly, and Najia watches as she curls her arms around Jolie to gently pull her towards her, rocking her slowly to comfort her. That is something Najia has noticed a lot; the rocking. She supposes that it must be soothing for them both. While Jolie calms herself down, Najia moves to the kitchen to source a water bottle and fills it up, passing it over and encouraging her to take small sips which she splutters through, but perseveres. 

“We need to change these sheets, why doesn’t Yaz take you to get cleaned up, Jolie? And I’ll sort the bed out,” Najia offers, rubbing Jolie’s shoulder comfortingly as she takes shaky breaths.

The blonde glances between them quickly before giving a brief nod and allowing Yaz to help her up from the bed and take her through to the living room. A few minutes after Najia has washed her arm in the bathroom, Yaz reappears, looking shaky as she rifles through the dresser drawers.

“Are you okay, Yasmin?” Najia asks gently, abandoning where she is stripping the bed and placing a gentle hand on her daughter’s shoulder. Yaz stills, breathing heavily.

“That was terrifying … I didn’t know what to do, and she’s so unwell, more than I thought she would be,” Yaz admits quietly, sniffing furiously against tears.

“Yaz, you did the best you could, you’re doing the best you can. Yes, she’s very unwell, but I know you, and I know how much you love her. You’re doing amazingly, and I know she appreciates having you here to take care of her so much,” she reassures, pulling Yaz into a hug and holding her tightly for a few moments.

“You’ve been looking after her since she got hurt, it’s okay to find it overwhelming. But you’re doing an incredible job so far, don’t be afraid to ask for help. Speaking of, I think you should call 111, the non-emergency number, just to get some advice. It can’t hurt,” she suggests, and Yaz nods.

“Right, yeah. I’ll help her get cleaned up and then call. They said at the hospital that nausea could be a side effect of the anaesthesia, but that’s twice now, and it wasn’t just a little bit,” Yaz replies, although mostly to herself as she continues to search through the drawer before coming up with a clean t-shirt for Jolie.

“Just what I was thinking, love … do you mind if I borrow a clean top?” She asks, gesturing to her own which is a little splattered.

“Oh, right, yeah. Our things are all mixed together but the top drawer is t-shirts, just take what you want,” Yaz informs before disappearing off. Najia can hear her talking quietly to Jolie and then presumably on the phone as she strips the bed and then locates clean sheets to put on it. Once she finishes up, she puts the clean t-shirt on and then wanders back into the living room. A smile appears on her face when she sees Yaz on the phone, holding Jolie’s hand loosely. Jolie’s pyjama bottoms and leg brace are abandoned on the floor, her presumably bare legs covered by a blanket.

“Okay, thanks, bye,” Yaz says before tossing her phone down onto the sofa.

“So,” she starts, looking between Najia and Jolie. “They said since we couldn’t see that anything was infected and you haven’t got a fever or anything, it’s most likely just an unfortunate reaction to the anesthesia and not any sort of infection in the incisions. But they did say to make sure you drink plenty of water, and if you’re sick again or develop a temperature we should take you straight to a walk-in centre. Oh, and since you can’t lie on your side with your leg, have you sleep slightly sitting up a bit, just in case,” she explains.

“That all sounds sensible,” Najia affirms. “We’ll keep a close eye on you.”

Jolie giggles weakly before adjusting herself on the sofa with a wince, followed by a yawn.

“Come on, let’s get you back to bed,” Yaz suggests, and Jolie nods.

“Probably put my pyjama bottoms and the torture contraption thingy back on first though,” she says, and Yaz laughs.

“It’s not a torture contraption, you peanut. Quite the opposite, to be fair,” she replies, picking up the pyjama bottoms and shaking them out.

“Well, it looks like one,” Jolie grumbles, before Najia excuses herself to give Jolie privacy to get redressed as Yaz slips the material over Jolie’s feet for her.

Once Jolie has made it back into the freshly changed bed and has been banked up with every cushion she owns, Najia insists on tucking the duvet in tightly around both women, making sure they are comfortable. She suspects that they would normally lie close together in their sleep, but Jolie being propped up is forcing them to have to make do with lying close and holding hands, one of Yaz’s arms over Jolie’s stomach.

“Mum, you don’t have to tuck us in, we’re in our 20’s,” Yaz protests and Najia tucks in the duvet on her daughter’s side.

“I’m here to be a mum, so let me have this,” she states in a no-nonsense tone, tucking in the sheets a little more until Yaz bats her away.

“Okay, okay, enough now mum. This is kinda weird,” she says pointedly, and Najia steps away, a little embarrassed.

“Sorry, I mean well.”

“I know you do, Najia. We appreciate the gesture, don’t we grumpy pants,” she grins slyly, directing her sentence down at Yaz lying next to her.

“Oi! I’m not grumpy.”

“You are a bit, babe.”

“Okay, fine. I’m grumpy because I’m tired. But we can solve that by being left in peace to sleep,” she says, raising her eyebrows in Najia’s direction.

“Okay, okay, I can take a hint. I’ll leave you alone, but I’ll leave the door ajar a bit, just in case. Goodnight!”

Two voices echo back her sentiment before she settles onto the sofa, safe in the knowledge that they have done everything they can at this point to help Jolie, and they will be playing it by ear for a few days until everything settles down again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed! I might write another one-shot a few weeks later, we'll see!
> 
> Also, I'm hoping to have the first chapter of the proper sequel for these two up this weekend, so keep an eye out for that!


	3. Youth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to write a little look in to Jolie's childhood!!
> 
> Brief mention of bullying at the end, but it's soft, I promise :)
> 
> Enjoy!!
> 
> Also thank you to Anobii1992 for giving this a quick read-through for me, go check her out if you haven't already!

Nine-year-old Jolie kicked her PE bag out in front of her crossly as she walked down the main street towards the village shop where her gran worked, like she did every day after school. Although she didn’t always kick her bag crossly. Partly because she only had her PE bag to carry once a week, sometimes two, but mostly because she wasn’t cross all that often.

Reaching the shop, she leaned into the heavy door to push it open so she could step inside, the bell above the door jingling quietly and announcing her arrival. She made her way through the shop quickly, shooting her gran a quick smile as she ducked under the end of the counter, the wooden trapdoor was too heavy to lift up on her own, and she slipped into the little back room.

A real smile crept onto her face as she shrugged her coat off and hung it carefully over the back of her favourite chair. She liked the routine that she had every day after school, and she liked the peace and quiet of the back room. 

At the little kitchenette, she stood on tiptoes to retrieve her special space cup from the back corner of the deep countertops before leaning over even more to reach the tap for the sink. She knew that all the other cups and mugs were kept in the cupboards right at the top of the wall that she definitely couldn't reach, but her gran always made sure her special space cup was where she could reach it.

Carefully carrying her cup of water over to the table, she placed it down before pulling the biscuit tin across the table and fishing out three custard creams. Technically she was only  _ supposed _ to have two for her after-school snack, but she had had a bit of a rubbish day so she thought three would be okay. Just this once, of course. With a satisfied sigh, she pulled her maths homework out of her school backpack and put it on the table before climbing up onto one of the tall chairs; she was small for her age, one of the smallest and youngest kids in her class and the chairs were a bit taller than normal chairs so she had to put a bit more effort in to get up there. But once she did, she took a big gulp of her water, crunched down on one of the biscuits and started on her homework.

She loved maths; the other girls in her class thought that was weird because girls weren’t  _ supposed _ to like maths, they were supposed to like art, but she didn’t really care. She was good at maths and science and things like that because they had an answer, but art didn’t have an answer, she never knew what she was supposed to be doing so she would just stare into space and get told off for not doing any work. Maths and science though, she liked those. You started with one thing and if you did it right, you always came out with the right answer.

She had gotten about fifteen minutes into her stay at the shop when she decided that it was too quiet in the little back room, so she slid down off her chair and went over to where the old radio was in the corner. If it was on, normally it was tuned into the old people station that played a lot of jazz and classical music. She didn’t dislike it, but it was a bit boring for homework so she stood on tiptoes again to reach the shelf above it that was full of CDs they had collected from the charity shop, pulling them out and then putting them back one by one until she found the one she was looking for. Disney songs. With a smile, she slipped the CD out of its cardboard case and put it in the player. Sitting back at the table, she hummed under her breath and finished the last of her maths homework before she begrudgingly pulled out her writing homework. She didn’t like writing homework, mostly because she found it hard to think of things to write about, and because she was left handed her teachers always said her writing was messy and smudgy. But it wasn’t her fault that her hand dragged over the page as she wrote, so she thought it was silly to get told off for something like that. They weren’t left handed, they didn’t know how hard it was  _ not _ to smudge everything.

A little while later, the door to the back room banged open noisily and Jolie startled, almost spilling her water all over the book she was now reading.

“Hey kiddo!” The culprit called, and Jolie rolled her eyes to herself.

“Go away, Jackson,” she grumbled, very pointedly  _ not _ looking at the teenage boy wearing far too much cheap body spray and spraying all his biscuit crumbs everywhere as he ate. Jolie didn’t like him.

“What are you reading?”

“A book.”

“Well obviously it’s a book … is it one of those fairy stories my little sister reads?” He asked, moving closer. His stinky teenage boy smell was stronger now and Jolie wrinkled her nose in distaste. She hated strong smells, they gave her a really sore head and it made it seem like the world was too loud. She didn’t know why it did that, but it did and she hated it.

“No, it’s a science book. Now  _ go away,  _ Jackson,” she said again, a little more crossly this time. He backed off, hands in the air in mock surrender.

“Alright grumpy pants, my shift is starting anyway.”

Jolie stuck her tongue out at him as he walked out the door, before flopping her head down on the table and pressing her nose to her book. She took a deep breath in. That was a good smell, she liked that smell.

Engrossed in her book once again, she startled when all of a sudden it was half past four and her grandma appeared suddenly in the back room having finished her shift.

“Well hello, Jo!” She said in the same silly voice that she always did, and Jolie looked up from her book with a grin. Her mood had changed instantly.

“Hi gran! I did all my homework already, even the not-fun writing stuff, look!” She enthused, pulling it across from where she had neatly piled it up on the other side of the table to show her gran. She wriggled in her seat in anticipation as her gran inspected her work. 

“Very nice, Jolie, I’m proud. I know you don’t like writing homework but you tried really hard, well done,” she praised, and Jolie’s face split into an even wider grin.

“Really?”

“Of course! I can see you tried super hard,” she repeated, wrapping her arm around Jolie’s shoulder and pulling her closer. Jolie leaned in happily, breathing in the scent of her gran’s washing powder. That was another smell she liked.

“You know what, how about we go to the bakery on the way home and you can pick a special treat to have after dinner?” She suggested. Jolie’s whole face lit up.

“Really?”

“Yes, really,” Dorothy chuckled at her granddaughter’s enthusiasm.

“Even though you always say I get the sugar rush?”

Dorothy chuckled again. “Yes, even with the sugar rush. Besides, it’s a Tuesday so you have cub scouts this evening, remember? You can run off all your energy there.”

“Oh, yes,” she nodded, putting her work and her book back in her bag and zipping it up before sliding down from the table. She didn’t  _ really  _ want to go to cub scouts tonight, because the boys in her class would be there and they had been picking on her lately. But she didn’t want to tell her gran that, and she did like everything else about cub scouts.

“Come on then kiddo, let’s go and pick out some fun treats!” She enthused. After zipping her coat up and swinging her backpack up onto her back, Jolie skipped after her grandma out the shop and onto the main street. The bakery was only a couple of shops down the street, and she practically bounced with excitement as they pushed open the door and made their way up to the counter.

“Ada, Ada!” Jolie yelled, bouncing up and down. “Granny said I get to choose a treat because I did all my homework well!” She grinned, skipping up to the counter and pressing her face against the glass to choose which sweet treat she would be able to indulge in after dinner. Ada was her gran’s best friend and she watched Jolie sometimes during the school holidays or the weekends when her gran couldn’t get the time off work. She was fun and she and William let her do cool stuff that made loads of mess whenever she wanted, and they taught her lots about computers. William let her help him work on his car too, which was her favourite part. Less fun was having to scrub the oil off her skin when she got home.

“Dorothy, she’s going to be bouncing off the walls!” Ada laughed as she stood up from her stool.

“She’s always bouncing off the walls, a little extra sugar won’t make much difference, I don’t think,” Dorothy laughed, catching up with her granddaughter and placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.

“I’m right here!” Jolie huffed with a pout.

“Sorry, love. Go on then, pick your treat,” she encouraged, and with one more slight scowl for good measure, Jolie turned back to look through the glass. There were a lot of options, which meant that there were a lot of choices to make, and she wasn’t very good at making choices. Her nose crinkled in distress as her gaze flicked more and more rapidly between her options. There were just too many good choices.

On cue, Jolie felt the hand at her shoulder squeeze a little tighter in comfort, and she smiled.

“Which ones are you stuck between, Jo?” Her grandma asked, and Jolie looked up at her before back at the glass case.

“The chocolate brownie and the heart cookies and the banana muffins,” she said all in a rush, her chest rising and falling just a little more quickly in her distress.

“Alright. Well, I was going to ask if you wanted to make cookies this weekend anyway so how about we save those for another time, yeah?” She suggested, and Jolie nodded in confirmation.

“But what about the muffin and the brownie?” She asked, still not knowing which one to pick despite one choice having already been removed for her.

“Well, I think I fancy both too, so how about we get them and share? That way we can both have a bit of each,” she whispered almost conspiratorially, and Jolie giggled with a nod. To her, that sounded perfect.

* * *

Later on, after their dinner, they were sitting down with their split sweet treats when Jolie felt an insistent tapping on her arm. She frowned, turning to see her gran looking at her in concern.

“Are you feeling okay, chicken?” She asked, rubbing her arm. But Jolie didn’t like that, it felt funny and like someone was zapping her skin with electricity, and she snatched her arm away, pushing both of them under the table for good measure.

“I’m fine,” she mumbled, staring intently at the remains of her banana muffin on the plate. But she wasn’t fine, she knew she wasn’t fine, but she didn’t want to tell her gran why. 

“Are you sure?”

“I’m  _ fine,”  _ Jolie repeated a little more firmly, before sliding down from the table and heading towards the steep stairs that led up to her attic bedroom, stomping slightly as she went. She knew her gran didn’t like it when she stomped up the stairs, but there was too much noise in her head and she had to get it out  _ somehow.  _

In her bedroom, she got her heavy knitted blanket from her bed and dragged it over to the window seat, sitting down and tucking her legs up before pulling the blanket around her shoulders firmly. She loved sitting here, it was quiet and peaceful and she could see over the top of the other houses and the high street and then to the fields beyond. It was peaceful and she liked it.

A little while later she heard a creak on the stairs and then a quiet knock at her door.

“Come in,” she mumbled, resting her chin on her knees and staring out the window again. Her bedroom door creaked open and then a few seconds later the window seat dipped as her gran sat down opposite her.

“Do you want to talk about it?” She asked, and Jolie shrugged her shoulders.

“Do you want a cuddle then?” 

Jolie nodded at that, and shuffled across the seat into her gran’s open arms, curling her blanket tighter around her shoulders and snuggling into the warmth. To her embarrassment, she felt a few tears rolling down her cheeks and she sniffed at them hard. Thankfully her gran just hugged her tighter and rocked her gently until she stopped crying again and sat up of her own accord.

“The other kids at school were making fun of me,” she admitted, resting her chin on her knees again as her gran rubbed her back.

“Why were they making fun of you, chicken?” She asked gently.

Jolie shook her head rapidly, tucking her chin to her chin.

“What’s the matter?”

“If I tell you, I don’t think you’ll like me very much anymore,” she said in scarcely more than a whisper.

“Jo, I don’t think that’s true. It’s pretty hard to not like you.”

Jolie just shook her head again, her whole body rigid with tension.

“Jolie, did you hurt anyone?”

“No.”

“Well did you say anything nasty or break anything?”

“No,” she whispered.

“Well I can’t think of any reason why I would be upset with you,” her gran whispered, stroking her hair.

Jolie contemplated for a moment. She wasn’t sure if her gran wouldn’t like her, but if she didn’t, she wasn’t sure what she would do.

She took a deep breath.

“They were making fun of me because the girls were all talking about which boys they liked and then they asked me and I said I didn’t like any of the boys, I only thought the girls were nice and they said that wasn’t normal and that I’m weird and then they told the boys,” she blurted out, desperately trying not to cry again.

“Jolie...that doesn’t make me not like you,” her gran sighed, pulling her in for another hug.

“Really?”

“Really … Jolie, there’s something you need to know. Some people grow up and only like boys. Some people only like girls. Some people like boys and girls, some people don’t really mind as long as the person is nice, and some people are quite happy not liking boys or girls. And that’s okay, Jolie, there is nothing wrong with that. Whoever you grow up to fall in love with, I’ll still love you no matter what, okay?” She said fiercely and reassuringly, squeezing Jolie even tighter. 

Jolie let out a long breath and let her grandma hold her, it felt safe, she felt safe because her gran still loved her and she said she would always love her, no matter what. It didn’t matter so much what those other people at school said now, because they weren’t as clever and nice as her gran. Her gran said it was okay to like who she wanted and she liked that.

Jolie sat like that for a while longer, warm and safe in her gran’s embrace until eventually she sat up and rubbed her eyes.

“I don’t think I want to go to cub scouts tonight,” she said quietly with a sigh. She always felt bad when she missed a week because it cost money to send her there, and money was something they didn’t have a lot of. But she really didn’t want to go today, she felt all floppy and tired.

“That’s alright,” her gran replied, shifting on the seat. “How about you bring your blanket downstairs, and you can eat the rest of your banana muffin while we snuggle on the sofa and watch a movie?” She suggested, and Jolie’s eyes lit up.

“You mean I can eat on the sofa?”

“Yeah, I think you deserve an extra little treat today for being so brave and talking to me,” she smiled, and Jolie grinned right back.

“I think I’d like that.”

Later that evening as she crawled into bed and her gran bent down to kiss her forehead and tuck her in Jolie smiled happily, burrowing further into her space duvet. She was happy because her gran said she would love her forever and ever, and there wasn’t much more she could ask for than that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! I had a whole lot of fun writing this installment :)

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! If you want to either prompt me for this series, or just come have a chat, feel free to do so in the comments below or on twitter, tumblr and discord; I don't bite, I promise!
> 
> Twitter: @emmyphant_  
> Tumblr: @emmyphant  
> Discord: doodlesimss#8487


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